5 Things That Determine Our Salary Amount

10 Jan 5 Things That Determine Our Salary Amount

Interviewers typically give job seekers an opportunity to ask for specific amount of salary and they may encounter a variety of explanations why job seekers ask for it. Most are quite logical and actual, as an example, job seekers could ask for specific amount because it’s what being offered by other employers from the same job position. Others may give absurd explanations and ask for double the normal amount because they are getting married and need much more money to pay for mortgage and other bills.

However, before asking for specific amount of salary, job seekers should consider the following facts:

1. Industry standards and job evaluation:

Companies decide on the proper compensation amount based on the demand and supply of specific expertise and the level of skill of the job seeker. There are required industry standards and expertise level that we need to consider. As an example, software engineers with five years of experience in real-world software development projects would get better salary in their industry, but lower in the entertainment industry or graphic design companies. This should be an obvious fact, but many job seekers are not aware of it.

2. Performance assessment after the interview session:

Interviewers will ask job seekers about their expertise, experience and skills. They should have the ability to demonstrate and communicate their skills, expertise and experience. Things could get worse if job seekers are unable to match their performance level with the content of their resume. This will affect the amount of salary offered if the job seekers are accepted for specific positions. Also, our attitude and conduct during the interview session could play a significant role. It could be fatal to show even a subtle hint of arrogance.

3. Relevance of experience and expertise:

The corporate world is getting saturated slowly and companies are seeking for opportunities to innovate and differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition. Many companies seek to concentrate on creativity, consolidation and optimization, but this could be achieved only by hiring proper employees who have the capacity to do specific tasks.

As an example, the marketing is a broad and vast domain and it won’t imply anything if we say that we have 5+ years of experience in this field. Same goes for other fields, such as human resources, business developments and finance. There are new improvements in the business world and we should have the capability to achieve things well. Having an involvement for specific amount of years in an industry doesn’t directly qualify our expertise or seniority.

4. Relevance in industry experience:

As mentioned above, the amount of time we spend in a specific domain doesn’t guarantee our expertise and skill. It is also important that we have relevant experience in the industry.

5. Last drawn salary:

Obviously, no employee would work in a company that provides lower than their last drawn salary. Job seekers should be honest about their previous and current salaries, so this could be included in the overall consideration. In general, we could get up to a third of hike compared to the last drawn salary.